JUNE 5, 1995

Villeneuve - F1 must come next

WHEN he crossed the finish line to win the Indianapolis 500, Canadian rising star Jacques Villeneuve achieved the ultimate in American motorsport. He may go on to win the Indycar title, but victory at the Brickyard is as good as it gets. Villeneuve is now expected to turn his attention to the Formula 1 racing scene, a world in which he grew up and in which he would love to be successful..

The 24-year-old is the son of the late Gilles Villeneuve and has raced a lot in Europe, initially driving Alfa Romeo touring cars and later Italian Formula 3. He spent a year in Japan in 1992 before joining the Toyota Atlantic series in 1993 which led to him becoming a fulltime Indycar driver with Forsythe Green Racing last year.

Villeneuve's manager Craig Pollock was at the recent San Marino GP at Imola talking to F1 team bosses about the possibilities for the future and we suspect Villeneuve will quickly be snapped up.

Another of Canada's Indycar stars 26-year-old Paul Tracy is also reported to be considering a move to Europe, where he did some of his early racing in Formula Ford F2000. Tracy tested a Benetton-Ford at the end of last year at Estoril in Portugal and impressed the team.

Tracy eyes F1 with caution, however, as his current Newman-Haas team mate Michael Andretti had a torrid time when he drove for McLaren in 1993.